According to SIPRI data for January 2026, Russia now leads the world in deployed nuclear warheads with 1,796, surpassing the United States which has approximately 1,770. The rankings also cover China, France, the UK, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea, highlighting the global distribution of nuclear arsenals and the distinction between total stockpiles and deployed warhead counts.
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Figures compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute place the number of warheads Russia has ready for deployment ahead of the comparable count held by the United States. Data gathered by SIPRI as of January 2026 put the number of warheads Russia had ready for deployment at around 1,796, placing it ahead of every other country on that measure.
Weapons modernisation programmes have continued moving forward even as financial pressure from sanctions and operational setbacks linked to the conflict in Ukraine have slowed certain development tracks.
Open-source figures place the number of deployed warheads in the United States at roughly 1,770 — a count that falls just short of Russia's total. The United States is overhauling its nuclear arsenal, a programme spanning ground-based ballistic missiles, long-range bomber aircraft, and submarine-launched capabilities.
China's armed forces have been updating their weapons arsenal — adding new missile platforms and growing their nuclear stockpile — as part of a wider push to modernise the country's military. Estimates put the number of warheads in that country's nuclear arsenal at roughly 620.
Roughly 280 warheads sit in active deployment within France's nuclear arsenal, a stockpile that places the country among the continent's nuclear-armed states. Ballistic missiles launched from submarines, alongside aircraft configured for nuclear delivery, form the backbone of that deterrence posture. Warhead stockpiles attributed to France number 370 in total, according to available tallies.
Estimates place the number of warheads held in Britain's active nuclear stockpile at around 120. Submarine-launched ballistic missiles, carried aboard nuclear-powered vessels, form the sole foundation of the country's nuclear deterrent. Roughly 225 warheads make up the full nuclear stockpile held by the United Kingdom.
Of the warheads attributed to India by estimates, roughly 12 are thought to be actively deployed, while the rest are held within the broader arsenal. India has been expanding the range of platforms capable of delivering nuclear warheads, spanning ground-launched missiles, air-delivered weapons, and submarine-based systems. Estimates place the number of nuclear warheads held by India at around 190.
According to SIPRI's January 2026 assessment, roughly 170 warheads sit within Pakistan's military holdings, though none of that total had been placed on active deployment status at the time of the estimate. Pakistan's ballistic and cruise missile programmes — spanning both conventional and nuclear-capable designs — remain oriented primarily toward maintaining a deterrent posture against India. Widely assessed to hold roughly 90 nuclear warheads, the country operates under a long-standing posture of deliberate ambiguity — neither confirming nor rejecting the existence of any such arsenal through official channels.
Pyongyang has yet to make any formal disclosure of its arsenal size, though outside assessments place the country's warhead count at around 60. None of those warheads are listed by SIPRI as being in active deployment. North Korea's ballistic missile programme — which encompasses intercontinental-range weapons built to strike targets well outside the peninsula — has remained active, with development work continuing across multiple delivery systems.